Retaining the Best and
Brightest Gen X, Y, and
Millenials…and Boomers?
December
16, 2003
ISPPI
Leadership
Forum
January 23, 2008
John M. Palguta
Vice President for Policy
INSPIRE
TRANSFORM
REALIZE
www.ourpublicservice.org
Good Retention of the Best & Brightest is
a Multi-Phased Process
• Recruit aggressively and widely
• Target incentives to the desired applicant pool
• Use good assessment techniques to make the
best job-person match
• Good “on-boarding” is essential
• Become a Best Place to Work
02.06
www.ourpublicservice.org
The Hiring Process: Back to Basics
Workforce Planning
Recruiting
Identifying Staffing Needs
Capturing Talent
Assessment
Hiring the “Best”
Orientation/Retention
Identifying the Fit
Matching the Person to the Job
Engaging Employees
Great People for Great Work
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www.ourpublicservice.org
Benchmark Survey
3,200 juniors, seniors and graduate students of
engineering at six campuses
02.06
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High-Touch is As Important as High-Tech
For each of the sources below, please indicate how likely you personally
would be to use that source for career guidance or opportunities.
66%
Relatives or family friends
Parents
62%
Professors
62%
Classmates or friends
62%
61%
Academic advisors
General Internet
58%
56%
Campus career services
Alumni of your university
41%
Monster.com
34%
Newspaper
30%
USAJobs.gov
28%
Public service or community service center
Idealist.org
% saying ‘extremely’
or ‘very likely’
27%
Total pilot schools
17%
02.06
www.ourpublicservice.org
02.06
Students Want to Do Good and Do Well
Below is a list of positive reasons that some people might have for wanting to work for the federal government. Indicate
for each if it is a major reason you would want to work for the federal government, a minor reason, or not really a reason.
% saying a major reason
82%
Working on interesting issues
77%
Good benefits
74%
Opportunity to make a difference
73%
Ability to help people
Advancement opportunities
66%
Good pay
65%
64%
Challenging job
63%
Good work-life balance
57%
Opportunity to travel
Exciting people to work with
Altruistic
reasons
68%
Job security
Serving your country
Professional
reasons
50%
48%
Total Pilot Schools
www.ourpublicservice.org
Red Tape is the Biggest Red Light
Below is a list of reasons that some people might have for not wanting to work for the federal government. Indicate for
each if it is a major reason you would not want to work for the federal government, a minor reason, or not really a reason.
% saying a major reason
53%
Too much bureaucracy
43%
I don't know what careers are available
40%
Salaries not high enough
35%
No job to match my skills
Not a fun or interesting place to work
31%
Advancement too slow
31%
Never thought about it
30%
Lack of opportunities for people like me
30%
Personal politics differ from those in power
30%
24%
Don't want to relocate
I can't make a real difference
Too much student debt
20%
16%
Total Pilot Schools
02.06
www.ourpublicservice.org
Select the Right Talent -- E.g., if Looking for
Change Agents
Change Agents Have the Following Specific Traits*
1
•
Have an opportunity orientation
– “See potential for impact in new situations”
2
•
Find a way to go deep in each new project
3
•
Take satisfaction in being valuable to others’ work; they are “utility infielders”
4
•
Combine “humility of approach” with “audacity of aspiration”
5
•
Earn their way in
6
•
Value achieving scale and concreteness of small actions
7
•
Define themselves by “sticking to it” and overcoming obstacles to achieve goals
8
•
Comfortable leading without authority
02.06
www.ourpublicservice.org
02.06
Building Blocks for Public Service Recruitment
Focus on finding a specific
type of individual that has
technical skills and passion
to make a difference
Describe government as
a “place of opportunity”
for those that will take an
active role in developing
their career
•
Targeted at outstanding men and women who seek to
make a real and significant impact on people’s lives
•
Developing a career in the federal government offers these
extraordinary individuals the ability to make their own
intellectual/professional path by rotating through different
agencies at different levels
•
A career in government provides the opportunity to have
unique and global experiences that accelerate learning
and allow individuals to influence the highest levels of
international decision-makers
•
Certain opportunities to act on an issue are only available
in public service
Tell the inspiring stories
of real impact
Illustrate how
government is the only
“hammer” for addressing
“nails” such as security,
housing, and public
health on a large scale
www.ourpublicservice.org
What Do “Experienced” Workers Look For in a
Public Service Job?
• Work that is interesting and challenging – 63 percent
• Health care benefits – 60 percent
• Good salary – 59 percent
• Retirement savings plan – 48 percent
• Flexible work arrangements – 47 percent
• Stability/Job Security – 47 percent
• Rewarding way to give back to country/community – 38
percent
02.06
www.ourpublicservice.org
Once You’ve Got Them, How
Do You Keep Them?
Become One of the….
02.06
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The Best Places to Work
IN THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
2007 RANKINGS
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Best Places to Work in 2007 – Why We Do It
1. Attract public interest in the federal government as a “best
place to work”
2. Give potential job applicants useful information and links to
federal job information
3. Create incentives for increased attention within government
on federal workforce issues
4. Provide federal managers with a roadmap for understanding
and increasing employee commitment.
www.ourpublicservice.org
02.06
Overall Index of Employee Satisfaction
Government Wide
Considering everything, how satisfied are you with your job?
67.5
Considering everything, how satisfied are you with your
organization?
56.2
I would recommend my organization as a good place to work
63.5
Total Index Score
61.8
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02.06
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02.06
www.bestplacestowork.org
Major Drivers of Employee Satisfaction
and Commitment
• A good match between an employee’s skills & interest
and the organization’s mission
• Effective leadership
• Work/life balance & support for getting the job done
www.ourpublicservice.org
Why Does It Matter?
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02.06
“It goes without saying that no company, small or large,
can win over the long run without energized employees
who believe in the mission and understand how to
achieve it. That's why you need to take the measure of
employee engagement at least once a year through
anonymous surveys in which people feel completely
safe to speak their minds.”
-- Jack Welch, Former CEO, General Electric
What You Don’t Want!
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Becoming and Staying a Best Place to Work
in the Public Sector
1. Develop a plan to use employee feedback to improve.
2. Share information – the good, the bad, and the ugly.
3. Compare differences over time, among peer organizations,
and in the context of other performance & outcome metrics.
4. Have and communicate specific improvement goals.
5. Highlight specific targets important to employees.
6. Focus on end results and track changes over time.
7. Benchmark against the best and learn from successes – and
failures!